Breakfast on Pluto (2005)

Directed by Neil Jordan. Starring Cillian Murphy, Gavin Friday, Ruth Negga, Laurence Kinlan, Liam Neeson, Brendan Gleeson, Stephen Rea, Seamus Reilly, Conor McEvoy, Ian Hart, Eva Birthistle, Liam Cunningham, Ruth McCabe. [R]

Rejected by her foster family and hometown, male-at-birth Irish free spirit, “Kitten” Braden (Murphy), comes out as transgender and embarks on an easily-distracted search for her birth mother. Broken up into thirty-six mostly brief “chapters”, this episodic film’s events and tones are all over the place, a schizophrenic approach held together almost entirely by Murphy’s intrepidly fey, soft-voiced performance. Some delightful and moving moments sustain its overlength to some degree. Fans of Patrick McCabe’s niche novel may be more forgiving of its disorganization, its limp vignettes, its implausible journey, its handful of choice but overburdened soundtrack selections…although they’re likely to be disappointed that the protagonist’s name has been changed—it was “Pussy” in the book. Singer Bryan Ferry appears in a cameo as a creepy john credited as Mr. Silky String.

61/100